The Russellville Planning Commission will consider for a third time a proposed subdivision in southwest Russellville.

Aldermen considered Thursday an appeal from the proposed developer of Overland Park Subdivision, who was not happy with a condition to add an additional connection that the Planning Commission required.

David Garza of Barrett and Associates, speaking on behalf of the developer, requested aldermen approve the original plat as submitted, without the addition of a connection to Camelot Drive. As an alternative, Garza said the developer would be willing to provide two entrances to the subdivision on West 12th Street and footpaths connecting the development to Camelot Drive and South Durant Avenue.

The original plan called for a street connection to West 12th Street on the south and to South Durant Avenue on the north.

Alderman Richard Harris made a motion to accept the alternate proposal, but City Attorney Trey Smith said the alteration cannot be considered by the City Council without first being addressed by the Planning Commission.

“The problem with something like this, the people on 12th Street, Sequoyah and Vancouver don’t know what you’re deliberating right now, and if they did, they might come here and tell you they want to do something different,” City Engineer and Director of Public Works Michael Oakes said. “We’re talking about dispersing traffic.”

Harris then amended his motion to send the matter back to the planning commission, and all present members of the council voted in favor of the motion. Alderwoman Freddie Harris was not present Thursday.

Crosswalk talk

Also on Thursday, aldermen and Oakes discussed the damaged crosswalks on West Main Street, scheduled to be repaired early next year.

Oakes said during the course of construction, the contractor encountered poor soils. A decision was made to bridge the unsuitable soil by adding cement to rock.

“It clearly has not worked in the case of the utility trenches,” he said.

While repairs were initially planned to take place as soon as possible, it was decided to instead wait until 2014, at which time all the crosswalks will be dug up and fixed. Oakes said spot fixes may take place in the meantime, if deemed necessary.

“The crosswalks at Boulder (Avenue) were already failing when the others were being done,” Alderman Spence Roberts said. “Why wasn’t this addressed at those other crosswalks?”

Oakes said there was no way at that time to determine whether the problems at Boulder Avenue were isolated or part of a larger problem.

“We saw some bumpiness out there, so we realized we had it, we hoped it didn’t get worse, we didn’t know it was going to get worse, and it did — it took time for all of that to happen,” he said.

While Roberts and Alderman Garland Steuber asked questions, other aldermen acknowledged some plans can go awry.

Oakes said when repairs are conducted next year, West Main Street will be shut down for one week to conduct crosswalk repairs, and the construction of bulb outs and crosswalks at Denver Avenue is expected to take approximately 30 days.